Increase of piracy activities in the Gulf of Guinea: first attack in 2019 off the coasts of Benin

On 15 December, a merchant vessel was attacked off the city of Brass, located in the southern Nigerian state of Bayelsa. In 2018, Nigeria experienced an increase in piracy attacks, particularly off the Niger Delta, source to offshore oil production. The latest report of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) recorded that of the 57 attacks that occurred in the Gulf of Guinea in 2018, 41 happened in Nigerian waters. The latest incident highlights that the phenomenon of piracy continues to be on the raise. The forecast for 2019 is that piracy might continue to increase if the socio-economic root causes are not addressed, and the security framework is not improved by the regional states and the international community. As a matter of fact, 2019 started off with an attack off the coast of Benin on 2 January when a Panamanian-flagged fuel tank owned by the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) was assaulted by pirates at around 55 nautical miles off the coast of Cotonou. Several members of the crew are currently reported missing. During the past years, pirate attacks have increased not only in Nigerian waters but they have also progressively spread off the coast of Ghana and Benin. According the experts, it appears that Nigerian pirates are now operating in the waters of these two countries. However, information about the country of origin of the pirates is still uncertain.